Fly Fishing in County Durham

The Tees rises on Cross Fell and for much of its length is the boundary between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The upper and middle river is fished for wild brown trout and grayling, with salmon and sea trout running later. Much of the Teesdale water we list is sold through the Fishing Passport, run on a not for profit basis by the Wye and Usk Foundation. Barnard Castle Angling Club’s three miles are £10 for a trout day ticket, and the Darlington Brown Trout Angling Association’s Tees beats are £14, with four tickets a day. The Raby and Strathmore estates each offer about ten miles of fly only water on the upper river at £12. The fish there are not big, but they are dark from the peat and they scrap. Salmon day tickets on the Tees run from £15 to £25, and Eggleston Hall is fly only and catch and release.

Gainford Riverside Trust sells permits online for the Tees at Gainford: £8 a day for coarse fish and trout, or £12.50 for salmon and sea trout. Darlington Anglers Club has about nine miles of the middle river, all catch and release, and visitors can book a river day ticket on Clubmate, though not for salmon. Darlington Fly Fishers Club is members only, limited to about 40 rods at £135 a year.

The becks are the smallest and wildest fishing in the county. The Balder has day tickets from £5 to £10 on the Passport, all catch and release, and the Passport suggests a rod of 6ft 6in to 7ft 6in rated 2 or 3. Greta Farm on the Greta is £10 for wild brown trout, with a chance of a sea trout from August in a wet summer. Deepdale Beck is fly only and catch and release, and Toft House on Eggleston Burn is £5. Most of them can rise fast after rain.

The Wear is a spate river that runs about 60 miles to the sea at Sunderland, and it is best known for large sea trout. Bishop Auckland and District Angling Club holds more than 17 miles around the town. Membership is £160 a year, and visitors can buy a non-member salmon and sea trout day ticket for £35, valid for 24 hours from 6am. All trout and grayling are returned. At Chester-le-Street, full membership is limited to 230 with a waiting list, but park side day tickets are £3.65, sold in advance by Durham County Council. The Derwent Angling Association has 15 miles of the Derwent, fly only for brown trout and grayling, with day tickets at £8.

Waterside Parks runs the fishing at Northumbrian Water’s reservoirs. Balderhead, Blackton, Selset and Cow Green are wild brown trout waters where any method is allowed, at £10 a day with a limit of 12 fish, or £105 for the Fantastic Four season permit. Grassholme in Upper Teesdale is stocked with rainbows, at £31 for 8 fish or £22 for catch and release. Of the lakes, Sharpley Springs near Seaham is £30 for a full day and three fish, Aldin Grange at Bearpark has two fly lakes with catch and release at £20 a day, and West House at Bishopton is £20 to keep your first fish and return the rest.

It suits an angler after a small wild stream on a short rod, a day on a Teesdale reservoir or a stocked fly lake, and one who accepts that much of the Tees and Wear is booked ahead or held by a club.